Reynolds pips Golding in opening Tasmania practice

David Reynolds pipped James Golding with a late flyer to top the opening practice session of this weekend’s Tasmania SuperSprint at Symmons Plains.

The Team 18 veteran set the two fastest laps in the 60-minute outing, both of which came within the final two minutes.

The best of those, a 51.1376, was one-tenth to the good of Golding, who had leapt to the top in the final 10 minutes.

Just 0.2286 seconds separated the top ten, with less than one-tenth separating positions two through seven.

Jack Le Brocq was third fastest, ahead of Cameron Hill, Mark Winterbottom, Nick Percat and Bryce Fullwood.

Broc Feeney was the fastest Red Bull driver, finishing eighth, one place better than his championship-leading teammate, Will Brown.

The top nine positions were all taken by Camaros, with Cam Waters the quickest Mustang in tenth overall.

Ryan Wood was the fastest Kiwi, in 13th, and completed the most laps, with 43. His teammate Chaz Mostert was one place behind, 0.017 seconds adrift.

Richie Stanaway led Penrite Racing in 16th, with Matt Payne in 20th. Andre Heimgartner was 18th, while Jaxon Evans was 21st.

Waters had set the early benchmark in Friday’s sole session, with a 51.4796 flyer leading the way ahead of Brown after ten minutes.

Brown jumped the Tickford Mustang driver in his second stint and remained at the top of the leaderboard when a short red flag was called to clear debris off the circuit 22 minutes in.

Reynolds made contact with Heimgartner as the reds came on, with the Kiwi slowing in front of the Team 18 Camaro as he dove into pit lane. The nudge damaged the right-rear panelling on Heimgartner’s Camaro.

James Courtney, meanwhile, was forced to sit out the opening half of practice after encountering power steering issues on his first out lap.

He did, however, return in the final half-hour to complete 16 laps.

Reynolds, too, faced gremlins early, with an engine misfire quickly addressed by Team 18.

Reynolds leapt to the top shortly after the two-minute delay but was pipped by Mostert shortly after. He responded by returning to the lead but was then toppled by Hill.

Wood climbed into the top 10 in the 38th minute, having spent the opening half of the session focussed on longer runs.

The pace ramped up in the final 20 minutes, with Le Brocq and Golding spending time at the top before Reynolds responded with his final efforts.

Supercars return on Saturday with a 20-minute practice session at 1.05 pm, before qualifying for the opener at 3.00 pm and the race at 6.10 pm.

Tasmania SuperSprint Practice 1 Results

Header Image: Team 18